Electric primer.



E. W. STARKWl'ITHER` ELECTRIC PRIMER.

APPLIUATIUE fum AER. z2, 1912.

LMQQ, 4 @ami-,66. 30,11912.

FZ/gl.

i,osaico.

narran s'rafrus rarnn'r orrioii.

HENRY W. STRKWEATHEB, OF NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, ASSIGNOR TO WIN-CHESTER REPEATING ARMS C0., F NEW HAVEN, CONNECTICUT, A CORPORATION.

ELECTRIC PRIMER.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patenten July so, 1912..

To aZZ whsomt may concern Be it known that I, HENRY W. STARK- WEATHER, acitizen of the United States, re-

Siding at New Haven, in the county of New Haven and State ofConnecticut, have in vented a new and useful Improvement in ElectricPrimers; and I do hereby declare the following, when taken in connectionwith the accompanying drawings and Jthe characters of reference markedthereon, to`

be a full, clear, and exact description of the same, and which saiddrawings constitute part of this application, and represent, in Figure 1a View 1n side elevation of anv electric primer constructed inaccordance with my invent-ion, shown on a greatly enlarged scale. Fig. 2a view thereof in een tral longitudinal section. Fig. 3 a view of theempty primer-shell as it appears before its forward or inner end iscrimped for the retention of the Wad.

Fig.. 4 a idetached? view in side elevation of the contact-button. Fig.5 a detached view in side elevation of:

the insulating ring for the contact-button."

Fig. 6 a detached View in side elevation of,

the insulating spacing ring. Fig. 7 a deprimer-shell. side elevation ofthe bridge-wire.

My invention relates to an improvement in electric primers, theobjectbeing to pro- Fig. 10 a detached view in;-

duce a simple and reliable primer constructed with particular referenceto compactness,

fewness of parts and eheapness of produc-f tion.

With these ends in view, my invention consists in anfelectric primerhaving certain details of construction and combinations of parts as willbe hereinafter describedand pointed out in the claims.

In carrying out my invention, I produce in any approved manner aone-piece shell 2 formed with a powder-chamber 3 extendingysubstantially throughout two-thirds ofthe length of the shell anddesigned to be filled with black or other suitable powder 4 confined bya wad secured in place by crimping the extreme forward or inner end of iWard face of the said contact-button.

the shell as at 6. The rear or outer end of the shell is formed with acontainer-chainber 7 substantially corresponding in diameter to thepowder-chamber 3 and separated therefrom by a web or diaphragm 8extending at a right angle to the longitudinal axis of the shell andformed as shown, with a cent-ral, circular dash-opening 9 which providesfor the passage of the igniting fiame from the chamber 7 to the chamber3. The Said chamber 7 receives a flanged sheetmetal cup or cup-likecontainer 10 the crimped forward edge 11 of which rests upon the outerface of the diaphragm 8, whereby the cup is positioned in the chainber7.

In assembling the several parts located within the cup or container 10,an insulating ring 12 of angular cross-section is placed in the bottomof the said cup so as to rest upon the annular flange 13 at the outerend thereof, the collar 14 of the said ring 12 fitting snugly within theopening 15 within the flange 13- of the cup. A anged contact-button 16is then introduced into the cup 10 together with the platinum ignitionor bridgewire 17 the outer end of which is hooked over the flange 18 ofthe button, the mainor body portion of which extends rear- Ward ythrough`the collar 14 aforesaid of the insulating ring 12. The contact-button16 and bridge-wire 17 having been positioned in the cup, the insulatingspacing-ring 19 is set into the cup so as to rest upon the for- Theouter endv of the bridge-wire 17 is then brought forward to rest uponthe forward face of the ring 19 after which the contact- 4washer 2O is.set within the cup 10 so asto rest upon the outer end of thebridge-wlre 17 and thold the same in place as shown in Fig. 2 in whichthe .wire is seen to extend diagonally across .the space inclosed by theinsulating spacing ring 19. The edge of the cup l0 is now crimped as at11 to retain t-he .contact-.washer 2O in .place. The space inclosed bythe ring 19 and contact-washer 20 is now filled Iwith gun-cotton 21. Itwill be understood that the several parts are assembled within the cupor container 10 prior to its introduction into the chamber 7 in theshell 2.

In using the primer the current is transferred from the firing mechanismof the i gun toi-the contact-button 16 from which the gun-cotton 21, theame of which leaps further description.

tainer having received within the sai forward through the Hash-opening 9into the powder-chamber 3 containing 'the pow- .der- 4, the ignition ofwhich ignites the charge, `whatever it may be, in the shell in `whichthe primer is used.

" Instead of forming the diaphragm 8 with a single centralflash-opening, it might be formed with several Hash-openings; so, too,if preferred, two or more bridge-wires might be employed instead of asingle b e `too obvious to call for illustration or '.fItIwill beobserved that the container'lO is, s'o to s eak, self-contained in sofar as it .is entire y assembled with all of its parts prior to itsintroduction into the containerchamber 7 in the primer-shell 2. Theconits contents is handled as one piece, and as such is introduced intothe container-chamber in the primer-shell Without any reference 4to thepowder-chamber of the shell or the contents thereof... :By myimprovement the cost of assembling `the primer-shell is thus greatlyreduced, the shells and container being made and. assembled'inquantities, whereas in the priorpractice most of the arts connected withthe function of ignition have been applied one by one.

I claimz- 1. A one-piece electricf primer-shell formed with apowder-chamber and a container-l chamber substantially corresponding toeach other in diameter and separated by a diaphragm arranged at a rightangle to the longitudinal axis of the said shell and. substantiallycorresponding in thickness there-l to, and formed with a Hash-opening.

2. self-contained container for use in electric primers, the saidcontainer consisting of a sheet metal cup formed at its outer end withan inwardly turned annular flange, and the vsaid cup-containing acontact-button` retained in place by the said flange, an insulating ringinclosing the said button, a brid e -or ignition wire located ring, andcombustible material to be ignited bythe said wire, located bridge-wire.These changes are thought to ips/1,160' I within the said vring infront.of said button.

3. In an electric'primen the combination with a primershell formed witha powderchamber and la container-chamber connected by a Hash-opening, ofa. self-contained container' adapted. to be introduced. into thecontainer-chamber without reference-to the powder-chamber and containingapcontactbutton, insulating material, an i "tion wire, and combustiblematerial to be ignited by the said wire.

4. In an electricprimer, the combination with a" one-piece primer-ShellV"formed with a powder-chamber and a container-chamber separated'froineach other by a diaphragm yhaving a flash-opening; of a self-containedcontainer adapted to fit within the said4 container-chamber, and aninsulating ring, a contact-button, abridge-wire, and a contact-washer,all located in the said 'conv tainer.

5. In an electric primer, the combination with a primer shell formedwith a powderchamber and a Vcontainei;'chamber; of a container locatedwithin the said vcontainerchamber, and a contact-button, bridge-wire,contact-washer, and insulating memberslocated within the said container,whereby the contact-button and bridge-wire are insulated therefrom.

6. In an electric primer, the combination with a primer-shell formedwith a powderchamber and a container-chamber separated by a diaphragmcontaining aiaSh-opening; of a cup-like container located within thesaid container-chamber,a flanged insulatingring located within thevouter end of the said container, a flanged contact-button lo` catedwithin thesaid ring, an. insulating spacing-ring located within thecontainer and bearing upon the said contact-button, a contact-washerlocated -within the container and bearing upon the forward face of theinsulating spacing-ring, and a vbridgewire extending between thecontact-button and spacing-ring and into the space within thespacing-ring which is filled with guncotton and located in line with theashopening aforesaid. v

In testimony whereof, I have signed this specification in the presenceof `two subscribing witnesses. i

HENRY W. STARKWEATI-IER.

' Witnesses:

THOMAS C. JOHNSON, DANIEL II. VEADER.

